The present invention relates to the handling of articles capable of assuming distinguishable orientations in general, and more particularly to the handling of conical thread packages such as those produced by spinning machines or winding machines.
Various constructions of arrangements for handling thread packages have already been proposed. So, for instance, in the U.S. patent application Ser. No. 510,557, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,558,776, there is described and claimed an apparatus for arranging cross-wound thread packages. That application is concerned in particular with the control of conveyor belt arrangements upon which the thread packages are being conveyed. Such a control system provides for the accumulation of a group of packages in a predetermined array while avoiding disturbances in the outer layers of the accumulated packages which are otherwise commonly encountered and are caused by relative movement between the respective package and a conveyor belt on which the package rests, by accumulating the array on an intermittently operated auxiliary conveyor belt. The full disclosure of this earlier application is incorporated herein by reference.
Although the invention of the aforementioned earlier application is not limited to use with cylindrical packages ("cheeses"), the embodiments actually illustrated in this earlier applications were all designed for handling such cylindrical packages, and would create possibly insurmountable problems if used to handle conical thread packages ("cones") without modification. In any event, this earlier application contains no suggestions how the principles of of construction and operation disclosed therein could be used to handle conical thread packages.